


Just One Last Dance

by magical-illusion13 (coldnightairinmylungs)



Category: Karlie Kloss - Fandom, Kaylor - Fandom, Taylor Swift (Musician)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-03 05:29:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,989
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13334463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coldnightairinmylungs/pseuds/magical-illusion13
Summary: "I loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would divide us."A short story about a love that transcended time.





	Just One Last Dance

Taylor carefully climbed the narrow wooden staircase that led up to the attic, her cat Olivia skillfully running up between her legs. Karlie was still in their new bedroom on the second floor, unpacking boxes, while Taylor’s older cat Meredith was watching her.

For the two young women, moving in together into their own house was a dream come true. After years of hiding, they had finally told the world their little secret, and now they could not care less anymore what anyone had to say about them. Moving out of the big city to Karlie’s hometown with their cats marked the beginning of a new, quiet, happy and free life. They had never felt better.

They had looked at a couple of houses but had been drawn to this one immediately; it had a big garden in the back and a beautiful front porch, the outer walls painted in a pleasant shade of blue. The air was good around here as well, as there was a little wood and a park nearby. But most importantly, the house had a big kitchen – they enjoyed cooking and baking together and planned on frequently inviting friends and family over for home-cooked dinners. In fact, Karlie’s younger twin sisters had started planning and inviting themselves to the move-in party almost immediately after the house had been bought.

Standing in the attic, Taylor pulled the over-sized hoodie she was wearing closer around her waist, the room being a little cold despite the increasingly warm spring weather outside.

She remembered the conversation they had had with the estate agent who had shown them around, a friendly middle-aged woman.

“Is there a third floor? What does this staircase lead to?” Karlie had asked.

“There is an attic upstairs. But I believe it has not been used in a while.”

The agent had looked at the notes on her clipboard.

“The family who moved out last year renovated the house, including both staircases, but they said they did nothing with the attic as they never used it. It had only been used until up to some thirty years ago by the grandmother before she passed away when she could still climb stairs, is what they told me if I remember correctly. Apparently they lost the key to the door though and didn’t want to damage it, so now the attic is empty.”

Taylor had looked at the agent. “That is such a waste of space! If we buy this house, I would like to use it. If we don’t have the key, we can exchange the door, I don’t mind the little extra costs.”

She had turned to Karlie.

“You wouldn’t mind, right, babe? I promise you don’t have to help with the cleaning.”

Karlie and the agent had laughed in response.

“No worries, I like the idea.”

So now here she was, standing in the room that was dimly lit and empty apart from her piano that she had charmed the assistants into carrying upstairs for her. Today she would clean this place up a little. She used her phone’s flashlight to get a better look into every corner of the room and made a mental note to buy two or three floor lamps within the coming days.

When she went forward a few steps she suddenly noticed that there was something on the floor next to the wall on the opposite side of the piano that cast a shadow. She went to have a closer look. It turned out to be a wooden box.

_Please don’t let there be a dead body or something like that in there_ , she thought to herself, only half-jokingly. She had promised herself to not care about what the world thought of her anymore, but that was a headline she didn’t want to read about herself. “ _Taylor Swift moves to new house, finds dead body. Is it her ex-lover?”_ She snorted.

Olivia had approached the box curiously as well now. Taylor saw that there was no lock on the box and opened it, then held her flashlight inside. To her relief, there was no dead body in there, just a stack of books and papers. She let out the breath she had been holding.

She took out the first two books on the pile and was met with the distinct musty smell of old books. She noticed that her hands were shaking a little. Was she even supposed to see this? The family that had lived here before had clearly forgotten about this box, if they had known about it at all. Maybe she should go downstairs and call the agent. Then again, maybe these books had no value to the family.

She flipped the first book open in the middle. A diary, she could tell from the slightly messy, but not illegible handwriting. She turned to the first page and started reading, intrigued.

 

_ Tuesday, July 27th, 1926 _

_Today is the day that I wish had never come. My father and I are on the train to St. Louis, where I await my fate. Or rather, what my father has decided will be my fate. I did not agree to this, and neither did my mother, but there was nothing we could do._

_“I don’t belong there”, I have told my father time and time again, “I belong in the big city with my friends, enjoying the freedoms of modern life.”_

_“You have wasted your time enough and I will no longer tolerate the debauched ways you young women live your lives these days, Alison”, he would always answer._

_“It’s time to marry a nice gentleman and do what you are supposed to do.”_

_I have cried about this many times in the past weeks, I cried last night, and in the morning, and even still after we boarded the train, but my father has just been sitting across from me with the newspaper open, not moved at all by my pain that he caused. To his mind, this is doing the right thing._

_We never talked about it, but I know that he knows. About the girl that I loved in secret._

_I know this is why he acted so suddenly to find me a husband, even though he had been urging me to marry for years now. But I could not be bothered wasting my time with any gentlemen, not that there were none who were interested in me._

_I preferred to be around the many modern, gorgeous and talented women that lived in New York City and who inspired me to write my music and live freely. One of them I had gotten especially close to, so close that my father didn’t like her being around me because she distracted me from finding a husband, as he said._

_And now I’m here. As I’m writing this I cannot help but think about last night, my last night at home with my friends, unforgettable and emotional. We all promised to exchange letters frequently. But I don’t know when I will see them again. When I will see her again. If I will see her again._

 

***

 

I tried to make as little noise as possible as I left the house, since I had only told my mother and my younger brother that I was going out tonight. They were always on my side, always had been. But it hadn’t been enough. I was going to leave the city tomorrow, for good. Just as my father had demanded.

I closed the door quietly and walked down the steps on the front porch towards the street. I anxiously looked back over my shoulder but no one called back for me. I had considered sneaking out without telling anyone, but I just could not lie to my mother, so I had stated to her I was going to meet my friends one last time tonight.

“I will not tell your father, but be home by midnight, Taylor, honey”, she had said, always so worried about me. I had reluctantly agreed.

Other than my father and the extended family, she and my brother as well as my close friends called me by my middle name instead of my first name, Alison, which I didn’t like at all. I had started asking people to call me by my middle name when I was a child, and had always felt oddly distant towards the people who did not comply to my wish.

I could have taken a cab to go downtown, but tonight I wanted to walk since it was my last night here and I was wearing fairly comfortable shoes for once. The evening air was mild and I hadn’t bothered bringing a cardigan.

There were some people walking on the sidewalks and a few cars on the streets, but it was not as busy as a weekend night. Whenever I passed a shop, I checked my reflection in the window. I was usually self-confident in my appearance, but tonight I was a bit nervous. A mild breeze blew through my curly blonde hair that I had been growing out to shoulder length.

I usually got nervous before I played my music in front of people, even if it was only a small audience, but never around my friends, which was why they were my friends in the first place. We all constantly supported and reassured each other.

Nonetheless they had not been able to do anything against my father’s decision to send me away and marry me off. A group of young women was not that powerful after all, no matter how much freedom these modern times had brought us.

Tonight would be the last time I’d see them.

Karlie stood outside by the door as I approached the dive bar, waiting for me. When she saw me, she smiled her wide smile that made her green eyes sparkle. I smiled back. We both went in for a hug when we were close enough, and she slightly picked me up from the ground in doing so, as she always did since she was taller than me.

We held tight for a few seconds and I buried my head in her shoulders, taking in her familiar smell. We were comfortable hugging in public, but didn’t dare to show any more affection than that unless we were on our own. We leaned apart and smiled at each other again, no words needed.

I briefly admired the way her purple dress highlighted her shining green eyes and the way it fit her tall, athletic body. She had recently cut her hair to a bob, as always keeping up with the latest fashion trend. It suited her very well.

Karlie opened the door and I could hear an Ethel Waters song playing as we walked in.

My friends and I visited this dive bar frequently, and while it was not exclusively for women, it was mostly women our age who came here. The place not only hosted parties but also meetings for women to talk about politics and their daily lives. I had not yet come here when a few years ago votes for women had become legal, but the place must have been buzzing during that time, as I’ve been told.

After my eyes had adjusted to the light inside, I could see that a few of our friends were already there, sitting on the low sofas and talking, as well as a group of women I didn’t know in another corner of the room. We walked over to our friends, and they all got up to greet me. Jourdan came up to me first.

“You look beautiful tonight, Taylor”, she complimented my appearance. Karlie just grinned and nodded beside me.

I was wearing a light blue, knee-long dress with short sleeves and a slim golden belt on my waist. My shoes were golden as well, but with lower heels than usual.

“Thank you for saying that”, I replied.

Jourdan looked as nice as always, the strong green color of her dress making her dark skin look stunning, the form of the dress perfect for her slim figure. She was actually Karlie’s friend, but at one point our friend group had become all mixed up, and now we all enjoyed being around each other.

The other young women at the table were my friend Este and her younger sisters Danielle and Alana, who frequently came with us as well. After we all had said our hellos, Jourdan announced that our friends Cara and Ella should be here anytime soon, however Ella wouldn’t be able to stay long, since she was the youngest.

“Actually …”, I looked down at my hands as I spoke, “I have to be back home at midnight as well, you know, since I’m leaving early tomorrow morning and all.”

Everyone looked at me a little surprised, but then nodded in understanding, reminded of why we were all here tonight in the first place. Karlie, sitting next to me, reached for my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. I smiled weakly, but looked up.

“Thank you all for being here tonight, I … I really appreciate it. I don’t want to leave …” I stopped talking as tears formed in my eyes.

“We know”, Este said. “And we don’t want you to leave either. But I promise we will not lose each other.”

I nodded.

“Now let’s try to cheer up for tonight and let’s enjoy ourselves”, she finished, and got up to move to the dance floor. Alana followed her, and the rest of us watched them dance to a fairly upbeat song that I didn’t know.

Eventually we turned to each other and Jourdan started a conversation about our adventures together in the last two years. Karlie and I joined in, while Danielle was more of a listener, laughing along but not saying anything herself.

While we were reminiscing about how Karlie and I had met at that one speakeasy two years ago, Cara and Ella came in and sat down with us after saying their hellos to everyone, and Este and Alana had gotten bored of dancing and joined the conversation.

I was happy, surrounded by my friends and interesting conversations, in a place where I felt comfortable. I tried to push the thought that all of this would be in the past by tomorrow out of my mind.

Unexpectedly I heard the first slow notes of a song I hadn’t heard in a long time playing out of the phonograph. I winced a little in surprise. Karlie next to me noticed of course, but before she could ask me what was wrong she seemed to have recognized the song as well.

She turned to me and took my hand.

“May I have this dance?”

I gulped, but then nodded and got up with her to the little space that was the dancefloor. There were no other people dancing, as I noticed, and our friends as well as the other people in the room looked at us as we stood close to each other. Karlie took one of my hands in hers and put her other one on my waist.

I felt embarrassed for a second, with all eyes on us, but Karlie’s proximity as we started slowly dancing to the song made everyone disappear.

 

_We meet in the night in the Spanish cafe_

_I look in your eyes just don't know what to say_

_It feels like I'm drowning in salty water_

_A few hours left 'til the sun's gonna rise_

_Tomorrow will come, it's time to realize_

_Our love has finished forever_

We moved slowly to the rhythm, holding onto each other, my head on her shoulder. To hear this song here, at this time, seemed like a dream. This song that I hadn’t heard in so long. It had always made me emotional, but now that I realized how well it fit my situation, I could feel tears building inside my eyes.

I leaned in even closer to Karlie, who held me even closer in return. She knew the song, too.

Once, during one of our many conversations about music, dance, fashion, and life in general, we had found out that we both knew and loved this old song that wasn’t played much nowadays; but had found a record of it at Karlie’s parents’ house.

When we played it, we just lay there on the floor, each lost in their own thoughts. When it had ended, we hadn’t played it again or even talked about what had gone through our heads while listening to it, but we could feel that we had bonded over it nevertheless.

The memory of that day always made me smile. Tonight, though, it filled me with sadness.

 

_How I wish to come with you (wish to come with you)_

_How I wish we make it through_

How I wished I could spend my life with Karlie. But this was not the time yet. Maybe, I thought, if we lived a hundred or so years in the future …

But we didn’t, and my father had decided on a man I had to marry, and I couldn’t protest without drawing rumors and comments from the people my father surrounded himself with. I came from a good, wealthy, Christian family, and if I wasn’t going to marry soon, people would start asking questions.

My father did not mind that I played and taught music, but he expected me to focus on marriage and family as I reached my mid-twenties. Karlie’s family was the same, though she was three years younger than me and her parents hadn’t given her an ultimatum yet. In contrast to my father, however, they didn’t seem to mind Karlie in my company.

Karlie, or Elizabeth as my father called her by her first name instead of her preferred middle name as well, was a bit of a local celebrity and sometimes graced the pages of magazines with her skills in ballet and modelling.

Unfortunately my father had caught on to the fact that I always kept the pages of magazines she was pictured on, which he had denounced.

“When are you going to stop messing about with these flappers?” he had said.

I tried to shake the thought from my mind and concentrate on Karlie’s presence here with me, and grabbed her hand even tighter. The chorus came on.

 

_Just one last dance_

_Before we say goodbye_

_When we sway and turn round and round and round_

_It's like the first time_

_Just one more chance_

_Hold me tight and keep me warm_

_Cause the night is getting cold_

_And I don't know where I belong_

_Just one last dance_

This would be our last dance.

Memories of our time together came flooding through my head; how often had we gone to the dances, listened to jazz music, secretly frequented a number of speakeasies …

I thought of the time I had made fun of the way she talked the first time we had gotten drunk together, how we would always dance together, unbothered by the world around us, our many dates to the movies, time spent together at the park in the summers …

Karlie had always been so sure of us, always told me how nothing in the world could stop us, but I had always had a bad feeling. And unfortunately, I had been right.

Our last summer together, our last night together, our last dance together.

Next week was going to be her 23rd birthday, and I would not be there to celebrate with her, I would almost be married by then. I couldn’t stand to think about it, and I felt the tears that had been pooling in my eyes for a while spill over and run down my face, but I didn’t care if they ruined my make-up. I only cared about being here with Karlie, I wanted to stop time so this moment would last forever. This right here was where I belonged, right in her arms, but the world couldn’t take it.

 

_The wine and the lights and the Spanish guitar_

_I'll never forget how romantic they are_

_But I know, tomorrow I'll lose the one I love_

_There's no way to come with you_

_It's the only thing to do_

When I had told Karlie about my father’s decision, her first reaction had been to not believe me.

“No, Taylor. This is not true. Please. Please tell me it’s not. He can’t do that.”

But I had only looked at her sadly without saying anything, so that eventually her initial disbelief had vanished and the same sadness that I was feeling had reflected on her face. We had made eye contact, and then she had pulled me close and hugged me as tightly as she could. We had both started crying at that point.

“You can’t go. I need you.”

We had stayed in that position for a long time, until we had tired ourselves out from crying. I had looked into her beautiful green eyes.

“I’m sorry”, I had whispered.

“I’m not free to do what I want anymore. I don’t want to go.”

Another tear had made its way down my cheek. Karlie had softly put her hand to my cheek and wiped the tear away with her thumb. I had leaned into her touch.

“I will be leaving within the next three weeks”.

Karlie had gasped.

“I know … “.

I had leaned in for a soft kiss on her lips.

“I promise to never forget you. I will write you letters. And I will come back here to visit my family eventually, so then we can meet. I will not let the physical distance between us exist in our hearts as well.”

Karlie had nodded.

“I was so naïve to believe we could continue like this forever. The world wants to divide us, but I will still love you in spite of that.”

Hearing these words from her, a small smile had crept onto my face. I had pecked her lips again.

For the days that followed until today, we had seen each other every day, no matter how busy our schedules had been. We had promised to never forget each other.

The chorus came on for a second, third and then a final time, each time more powerful, emotional and striking than the last, and I could feel the passion behind the singer’s voice through my entire body.

 

_Just one last dance_

_Before we say goodbye_

_When we sway and turn round and round and round_

_It's like the first time_

_Just one more chance_

_Hold me tight and keep me warm_

_Cause the night is getting cold_

_And I don't know where I belong_

_Just one last dance_

The song slowly faded away.

Karlie and I stayed the way we were for a few more moments, bodies tightly pressed against another. I could faintly smell fume in the room, like a candle had just gone out. The room was quiet. I separated a little from Karlie to look at her, and she leaned in to give me a soft kiss. I didn’t care that there were other people in the room.

This had been our last dance.

Our night ended sooner than any of us wanted it to, but we had to head back home. Karlie insisted on walking me to my house, from which it was not too far to her own. Saying goodbye to my friends was emotional. I would be leaving early tomorrow morning, so they could not come to the station with me. My father would have not liked that, anyways.

Karlie and I did not talk much during our walk home. She had given me her cardigan since I had neglected to bring one myself. The night was cooler than I had expected.

We stopped walking when we reached my house and stood on the pavement on the opposite side of the road. The road was well lit, but we didn’t let that bother us.

We looked into each other’s eyes.

“Your eyes are really blue”, Karlie murmured.

I smiled weakly and gave her a soft kiss. Then another one. She put her hands into the pockets of her cardigan that I was still wearing and squeezed my hips through them. We stood there kissing for what felt like forever, silent tears flowing down both our faces, tasting the salt of the other’s tears on our lips. I knew it was way past midnight at this point, but I didn’t care.

We jumped apart when we heard the front door of my house open. We turned around in panic, but it was just my younger brother who stood in the doorframe, gesturing to me to come inside the house. He waved at Karlie and gave her an apologetic look, then he closed the door again. I knew that he was just as sad about me leaving as I was.

I looked at Karlie again, pressed one last kiss to her lips and gave her one last, long hug. Then we separated, and I turned to walk towards the door, Karlie holding my hands for as long as possible. When we lost contact I could feel her wince, but I pulled myself together and walked to the front door.

When I closed it from inside I could see Karlie still standing there in her spot, and I knew that she was crying. I let out a loud sob, put both my hands over my face and slid down the door, where I sat on the floor for a while, crying and hugging my knees to my chest. I noticed I was still wearing her cardigan, but I was not going to get up and return it now. Instead, I used the sleeves to wipe the tears from my eyes.

So this was how the life that I loved came to an end. Tomorrow everything would be different.

 

***

_It feels good to write down what has happened. I just spent a long time just looking out of the train window, watching the landscape, letting the memories come and go. It all already feels so far away. I cannot help but let a tear or two escape my eyes every few minutes. I will close my diary for now and let myself rest for the remainder of the journey._

Taylor looked up from the diary entry and took a second to remember where she was, she had been so engrossed in what was written there. She suddenly noticed the uncomfortable position she was sitting in on the wooden floor.

Standing up, she was about to carefully place the old diary and her phone on the floor, when she felt a lose piece of paper fall out of the last pages. She pulled it out fully and noticed it was an old letter. She quickly scanned the paper with her eyes; the handwriting was neat, but small and the lines close together, as if the sender had wanted to say as much as possible on the limited space.

The letter started with “Dearest Taylor” and ended with “Love, Karlie”. She took in a sharp breath, her heart started beating faster once again. The same names as in the diary entry. Who had these women been? Was this just a big coincidence?

_What does all of this mean_ , Taylor thought to herself and began pacing around the room, careful not to bump her head on the inclined ceiling. She began humming a melody. _I’m not sure if I’ve ever heard the song the girl in the diary wrote about_ , she thought _, but I have a melody for it in my head …_

She stopped in front of her piano, lost in thought. After a moment, she sat down on the low stool in front of it and opened the top. Olivia, who had been sitting next to Taylor before, used the opportunity to jump on her lap. Taylor scratched the cat’s ears and pressed a few random keys, just to confirm that the piano was indeed tuned. Startled by the sudden sound, the little cat jumped off the singer’s lap again and quickly ran across the room and down the stairs.

Taylor hardly took notice of it however, as she was still deep in thought, a melody on her mind. She had not written any songs in a while after the release of her last album, but nevertheless the feeling of her fingers on the piano keys was a familiar one.

Right now, right there in the attic of her new house, it did not feel like she was trying to work out a new melody, though. It rather felt like trying to remember a song she had once been able to play, a long time ago.

Softly, she started playing a few notes, then paused. She repeated them, listening closely. She kept playing, and then the melody seemed to come naturally to her, her fingers translating the song she heard in her head perfectly onto the piano keys and into the room.

The air filled with the sadness of the old love song, and Taylor felt like she had done nothing throughout her career but play this song, though she knew this was her first time playing it. The song had no beginning and no end, she just kept playing it over and over again.

Downstairs, Karlie stopped unpacking the boxes and kept still in bewilderment. Why would Taylor be writing a song in the middle of moving into their new house? But she just sat there and listened, enjoying the harmony of the song.

She slowly got up to go to Taylor in the attic and watch her play, something she never got tired of doing. Climbing up the stairs she thought to herself, _I have a feeling I know this song, but haven’t heard it in a long time._

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading this, I hope you enjoyed it. Please share your thoughts with me in the comments.
> 
> English is not my first language so if I made any mistakes, please let me know, I appreciate constructive criticism.
> 
> The song this story is based on is "Just one last dance" by Sarah Connor. No copyright infringement intended.


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